


Sweeter than Honey

by sir_kingsley



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-16
Updated: 2015-01-16
Packaged: 2018-03-07 18:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3179207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sir_kingsley/pseuds/sir_kingsley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean has this habit of calling Castiel "honey bee." Cas is sure Dean is just joking around when he uses the pet name, but with all the winking and flirting too, Cas can't help but feel things for his best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweeter than Honey

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So this is just a fluffy piece of trash I threw together because I couldn't get the idea of Dean calling Cas "honey bee" out of my head. Please enjoy!

“Hey, honey bee!”

Castiel jumped at the shout and turned his head to find his best friend, Dean Winchester, grinning as he stood by the back door of Castiel’s house.

Rolling his eyes, Cas returned his focus to his little beehive. He slid the frame he had been inspecting back inside. “See you later, guys,” he told his buzzing friends and journeyed toward the house.

“What are you doing here?” he asked Dean when he was far enough to remove his mask.

Dean shrugged easily as he watched Cas remove his bee keeping gear. “I need your help with something.”

“And what would that be?” Dean’s eyes slid away as he mumbled something incoherent to Cas’s ears. “What was that?”

Dean released an exasperated sigh. “I haven’t started Mr. Turner’s research paper yet.”

“Dean!” Cas chastised. “That’s a six-page paper! It’s due tomorrow!”

“I know!” Dean cried. “That’s why I need your help!”

Cas had every urge to tell Dean no. He always did this, waiting until the last possible second to start a big assignment and then dragging Cas into his mess. Cas had lost count of the number of nights he had stayed up late helping Dean finish English papers and science projects. 

But Dean knew how to work Cas. He knew how to bat his pretty green eyes and pout with those pretty pink lips and his face got just red enough to make his galaxy of freckles stand out. Cas was weak.

“Fine,” he gritted out. “But I’m only going to help you write the outline. I’m not touching the actual paper.”

But Dean wasn’t listening. He was already dancing inside of Cas’s house, pumping a victorious fist in the air.

Cas followed his friend inside. “Get your stuff out. I’m going to make some tea.”

There was once a time when Dean would make a face at Cas announcing he was going to make tea. What kind of high school boy drank tea? But Dean had long grown use to Cas’s odd likes and dislikes, such as tea and bee keeping. He just nodded and began to unload to backpack onto the kitchen table. 

Cas sat at the table a few minutes later with his mug. He took a sip and then stood back up to fetch a jar or something.

“What’s that?” Dean asked, peering over his mountain of books.

“Honey,” Cas said as he spooned some into his mug. “I collected it myself.”

Dean couldn’t suppress his smirk. Cas tilted his head. “What?”

“Nothing, honey bee. Don’t worry about it.”

Cas frowned and scooted closer to Dean. “I wish you’d stop calling me that. Okay, so what have you go so far?”

“Jack shit,” Dean answered.

Cas signed. “Well, first you need a topic. Some animal to focus on.”

“What did you write about?”

Cas went to answer and flushed. There was a pause before he answered, “Honey bees.”

Dean’s laughter earned him a hard punch in the arm.

They spent quite a few hours working on Dean’s paper. He had eventually settled on bears. Cas didn’t understand why but they were too pressed for time to second-guess things. Cas helped Dean with his outline and a large portion of the research. And, of course, he went to help Dean perfect a few paragraphs and ended up rewriting them entirely. Their night ended with Cas finishing the works cited page while Dean stuck his fingers in the honey jar.

“Well, that should be – Oh, Dean, don’t do that!”

Dean paused with his finger at his lips. He grinned at Cas’s outraged face and licked the honey off. Cas was beet red as he asked, “What the big deal?”

“I-I-I- It’s not… It’s not s-sanitary,” Cas sputtered. 

“I’m not double dipping.”

Cas looked away and took a deep breath. “It’s still not clean. Wash your hand. If you want some, I’ll put it in a bag for you to take home.”

Dean’s voice was low when he said, “I always want your honey, Cas.”

Cas shot Dean a look and Dean replied with a wink. Without a word, Cas rose from his chair and Dean chuckled. 

He followed Cas to the counter and washed his hands as instructed and watched Cas find a little baggy. He began spooning the honey into the bag, never looking at Dean.

Dean crammed all his books into his backpack. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Cas said, handing Dean the bag of honey. “You always see me at school. And don’t forget to actually print your paper and bring it to class.”

“Sure thing, honey.”

Cas rolled his eyes. “And stop calling me that.”

*****

Castiel sat in his biology class, tapping his pen against his notebook with barely constrained fury.

Dean was late.

Cas watched the clock tick and glared as his other classmates hurried in. They, it seemed, actually remembered Mr. Turner’s strict punctuality rule. Or cared about it, at least.

Mr. Turner walked in and Cas let out a sigh of defeat. He wouldn’t believe Dean was doing this. After all that time and work Cas had put into helping him with that paper, Dean was going to blow it off. He was probably sleeping in, snoring the morning away. Or he had actually gotten to school and was distracted on his way to class. Probably by some pretty girl. He was probably making out with Lisa Braedon behind the bleachers at that very moment, because Dean was just that tacky. 

With that last though, all of Cas’s anger rushed out of him to be replaced by a thick, unsettling sadness and he found himself praying that Dean wasn’t making out with Lisa behind the bleachers.

And sadly, that wasn’t the first time Cas had made that prayer. He had found over the last few years that such prayers and thoughts were common when you were in love with your best friend.

“Alright, class, we’re g-”

“Heya, Mr. Turner!”

All eyes in the class flew to the door as Dean Winchester bolted through.

“Mr. Winchester, you’re late.”

“No, I’m exactly on time,” Dean said, pointing at the clock.

Mr. Turner looked and grumbled under his breath. It was still eight o’clock. Dean had made it.

“And did you bother to write your paper this time, Mr. Winchester?”

“Mr. Turner, it’s as if you have no faith in me.” Dean pulled a rolled stack of papers from his back pocket and waved it with pride like a flag of victory.

The chuckled at Dean’s antics as Mr. Turner shot Dean a cold look. Cas rolled his eyes just as Dean turned to grin at his classmates. His eyes met Cas’s and held for a brief moment. Then, to Cas’s horror, Dean winked. 

Mr. Turner snatched the paper from Dean’s hands. “Take your seat, Mr. Winchester.”

Dean spun on his heel with a cocky grin and began for his seat, which waited for him right next to Cas. 

Cas kept his head bowed the entire time, trying to hide his face as it cooled off.

This was probably the hardest part about loving your best friend. Well, at least when that friend was Dean.

Cas liked to think that he could have survived if it had been the typical unreciprocated romance that had been speaking to the hearts of pining teenagers ever since “Some Kind of Wonderful.”

He was quite certain he could last longer than Watts. He could commit himself to a life of loving Dean secretly and from afar. And he could live with Dean never loving him back.

He truly believed he could. But then Dean pulled shit like that eye wink or like calling Cas “honey bee” or telling Cas in a sexy voice that he always wanted Cas’s honey.

That was when Cas’s confidence crumbled. Because those little habits did things to Cas. 

They gave him hope. 

And hope made Cas wonder if he could get more.

And thinking of more made Cas’s heart hurt.

*****

Dean found Cas at the end of school at his locker, smiling and chattering with Jo, Charlie and Ash as he shoveled textbooks into his backpack. He wiggled into the circle of friends.

“Heya, honey bee. Ready to go?”

Cas paused long enough to roll his eyes as their friends snickered. “Dean, I asked you to stop calling me.”

“Seriously, Winchester,” Charlie piped up. “I mean, if you’re going to give Cas a pet name, make it something original. Step up your game, dude.”

“Honey bee is a perfectly acceptable pet name for Cas. He raises bees and they’re his favorite animal. So it’s a good name,” Dean argued.

“How are the bees?” Ash asked. No one was surprised Ash would ask this question.

“They’re good,” Cas answered. “I just inspected the frames yesterday. Probably going to collect some more honey over the weekend.”

“Is the honey good?” Jo wondered. “Is it sweet? Or do you have to add stuff?”

“Oh, let me tell you,” Dean said, leaning on Cas’s shoulder with a wicked grin. “Cas has the sweetest honey I’ve ever tasted.”

“Oh, gross, Winchester!” Charlie laughed, swatting at Dean’s arm. “Keep that to yourself!”

Cas slammed his locker shut, scaring the four of them as they snickered. “I’m ready to go,” Cas said with a stern face.

Dean hurried after Cas but didn’t miss the ominous “oooooh”s from his friends.

Cas was quiet on the drive home, his face angled toward the window the entire ride. Dean kept shooting his glances. He knew Cas knew he was looing at him. But the other boy didn’t react. So Dead didn’t press him.

Dean pulled into Cas’s driveway. Cas got out without a word and was already inside the house by the time Dean closed his car door. 

Dean found Cas in the living room. He had settled into one corner of the couch, a book already in his hands.

Dean sat at the opposite end and watched his friend read for a few minutes. “Hey, Cas? Can I ask you something?”

Cas hummed that it was okay.

“Why don’t you like it when I call you honey bee?”

Cas didn’t lower his book when he answered, “Because it makes it sound as though we’re a couple.”

Dean frowned at Cas’s book cover. “Why is that a bad thing?”

There was a long pause before Cas answered. “Because we’re not a couple.”

“So what if we were? Could I call you honey bee then?”

The book dipped for a moment. “Wh-what are you talking about?”

“If we became a real couple, could I call you honey bee?”

“That would be a ridiculous reason to start a relationship.”

“Well, that would only be one of the reasons to be in a relationship with you, Cas.”

The book began to quiver. “What are you talking about, Dean?” It was barely a whisper.

Dean scooted a little closer to where Cas was huddled together. “Well, if we were a couple, not only could I call you honey bee, but I could hold your hand in public. We could kiss whenever we wanted, hug, make goo-goo eyes at each other. And, of course, there’s the sex. We could have sex in school. Sex in the second-floor bathrooms, behind the bleachers, sex in the library but you’d have to be very quiet-”

“Dean!”

The book was shaking heavily and Cas’s knuckles were stark white against the cover. Dean scooted even closer and set a hand on Cas’s knee. Cas jerked but didn’t pull away from Dean’s touch. “And I could tell you that I love you whenever I want. Every morning when I pick you up, every time I meet you for lunch, every night before you go to sleep. When I’m happy or when you’re sad. Once every hour if you need me to. Would you like that, Cas?”

Ever so slowly, the book began to fall into Cas’s lap and Dean could finally see Cas’s face as a tear swept down his cheek. “Y-y-yes.”

“Why are you crying?” Dean asked as he thumbed the tear from Cas’s face. 

“Because…” Cas took a deep breath and leaned away. “Because I never thought you could actually... like me.”

“Cas, seriously? I’ve been dropping hints for years! I mean, really, what kind of guy do you know who constantly winks at his best friend? And for God’s sake, I call you honey bee!”

“I just thought you thought you were being funny.”

“Even my sense of humor isn’t that bad. Cas.” Dean reached up and cupped Cas’s face. “I have loved you since freshman year. And since freshman year I have been trying to prove to you that I’m good enough. Why do you think I actually started coming to class? And turning it my homework- Most of my homework?” he amended after Cas shot him a weird look. “Or why I chose to write my stupid about bears? I don’t even care about bears!”

Cas tilted his head to the side and Dean had to fight an urge to kiss him right then. “Why did you choose bears?”

“Because bears love bees. I was trying to leave you another hint.”

“Dean, bears don’t love bees.”

“What are you talking about? Of course they do. They love honey!”

“Yes, but they also eat bees. Bears would be considered a predator to bees.”

A deep frown formed on Dean’s face. “Are you being serious? But Winnie the Pooh always-”

Cas couldn’t bite back his laughter a moment longer and he laughed in Dean’s face until he had to clutch his stomach.

Dean scowled at his best friend. “It’s not that funny, Cas.”

But Cas just nodded and reached to wrap his arms around Dean’s neck, pulling him closer until their noses brushed. “Yes it is.”

“Are you about to kiss me, honey bee?”

Cas snorted with laughter. “God, that really is an awful pet name.”

“I’m still gonna use it,” Dean said as he leaned closer. “I think it’s super cute and it makes since because-”

Dean never got to finish his sentence. Cas leaned forward and touched their lips together and Dean fell happily into his first taste of Castiel. Sweeter than honey.


End file.
